Growing up in the shadow of Michigan State’s campus, there was only one place Sam Busch dreamed about playing baseball.
After a celebrated high school athletic career at East Lansing where Busch was a two-time all-conference and all-area award winner on the diamond and a quarterback and captain for the Trojans on the football field, Busch committed to play baseball at MSU. He redshirted his first season before appearing in 11 games the following year.
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Entering his redshirt sophomore season, Busch became a regular in the lineup as the designated hitter, and as his career has gone on, at first base. Now, in his final home series as a Spartan with MSU on the edge of making the Big Ten tournament, the stage has never been bigger in Busch’s career.
“It means everything to me,” Busch said. “This is where I always wanted to play, and it’s been a dream come true. I wouldn’t change any of it going back five years ago. I’ve loved every second of it. I’m beyond grateful, and I don’t know when it will hit me, but there will be some tears on Senior Day for sure.
“These past couple weeks I’ve been processing it coming to an end, but it’s just been a blessing. It’s hard for me to put the words together to describe it other than amazing, putting on this uniform and these colors, just something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid.”
Michigan State’s Sam Busch celebrates as he rounds the bases after a home run against Ohio State during the fifth inning on Friday, April 18, 2025, at McLane Stadium in East Lansing.
Busch has been climbing up MSU’s career home run board, both in a single season and for his career. Busch slugged two homers last weekend when the Spartans won a series on the road at USC, giving him 14 on the season and 28 for his career.
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Busch is third on the team in batting average, hitting .293, and leads the team in homers and runs batted in with 57. Busch sits in fifth for career home runs as a Spartan, and his 14 this season put him fifth on the single season list, just two from tying Kirk Gibson, Matt Riggins and Bob Malek for second all-time.
Entering Friday night’s game against Minnesota, the Spartans sit 13th in the Big Ten standings with a 12-16 record, trailing Illinois and Northwestern by one game in the standings with two games remaining. The top 12 teams qualify for the Big Ten tournament.
“Our team goal every year is to get into the (Big Ten) tournament and make a run, and we have everything in front of us,” Busch added. “We control our destiny, and you can’t ask for much more than that. It’s nice being at home. We love playing here in front of our fans, and we just have to take it one pitch at a time.”
MSU dropped the first game of the series on Thursday with ace pitcher Joseph Dzierwa on the mound, but the Spartans have two more cracks at getting the two needed wins against the Gophers on Friday and Saturday.
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Dzierwa has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the Big Ten this season as a junior, and MSU’s best arm has developed a great relationship with Busch, MSU’s best power bat.
“He and I have gotten pretty close this year, and we push each other a lot,” Dzierwa said. “He gets after me and I get after him, and we hold each other accountable. After every home run he hits, I go tell him to do it again. We’ve become really close this year, building off each other’s success.”
MSU and Minnesota play at 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU’s Sam Busch leads the charge for postseason push in final season